Android music making app round-up

MusicRadar catches up with the latest releases

Android arrivals

We’re not going to try and tell you that the Android platform now has enough great music making apps to be considered a serious rival to Apple’s iOS, but decent software is starting to come through. Hence this round-up of some of the new Android titles that have caught our eye over the past couple of months.

Single Cell Software Caustic Music Rack, Free

Compatibility: Android 2.1 and later

Inspired by Propellerhead’s Reason, this is a significant soft studio release for Android that contains virtual analogue, PCM and bassline synths, a sampling drum machine, a mixer with delay/reverb and six insert effects and a 1-song sequencer. A paid version is available as an in-app purchase.

Mikrosonic SPC Music Sketchpad, £3.50

Compatibility: Android 2.1 and later

A pad-based app that lets you play loops and sequences via 16 ‘scenes’. There are also dedicated sample and loop editors. Two pre-programmed scenes are supplied, though you can download more and there’s also the option to import your own WAV files.

Mikrosonic RD3 Groovebox, £3.06

Compatibility: Android 2.1 and later

This is the sister app to the SPC Music Sketchpad, which can import RD3 loops. It features a 303-style synth and drum machine that emulates several classic hardware models (including the 909, 808 and 606). You can create tracks via the real-time step sequencer.

Oliver Wittchow nanoloop, £1.76

Compatibility: Android 1.6 and later

Purists will insist that it has to be used on the Game Boy, but nanoloop is now available to Android users. It’s a step sequencer-based app that lets you work with six channels, each of which can be either a synth or a sampler. You can use up to eight patterns and two instruments per channel.

Fleetway76 Synthoid, £1.49

Compatibility: Android 2.0 and later

Billed as a retro-style analogue synth, Synthoid can be controlled using your phone’s touchscreen or by moving it around in the air and triggering its accelerometer. The synth engine features three oscillators and two LFOs, and a selection of presets is supplied to show off what it can do.